For nearly anyone else, such an ambitious project would result in a mess, Albert says. "But Deutsch ... is so smart, and so strange, and so creative, and so inexhaustibly curious, and so vividly intellectually alive, that it is a distinct privilege, notwithstanding everything, to spend time in his head."

Reading has given me more perspective on a number of topics — from science to religion, from poverty to prosperity, from health to energy to social justice, from political philosophy to foreign policy, and from history to futuristic fiction.

This challenge has been intellectually fulfilling, and I come away with a greater sense of hope and optimism that our society can make greater progress in all of these areas.

It's fitting to end the year with "The Beginning of Infinity" by David Deutsch, about how the way we explain things unlocks greater possibilities.

And in case you wanted even more reading material, Zuckerberg noted in the comments section of his post that over his holiday break he's also making time for a pair of sci-fi novels, Liu Cixin's "The Dark Forest" and Ernest Cline's "Armada."